


TLC (Tea-nder Loving Care)

by jojibear



Series: Just Kiss 2017 [4]
Category: VIXX
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 12:33:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10571400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jojibear/pseuds/jojibear
Summary: In which Taekwoon overworks and Hakyeon is exasperated. (He's always there to help though.)





	

When his mentor returned from the summon he had received from a harried-looking servant of the Crown Prince, _he_ looked exhausted and troubled, and Hakyeon, who had waited nervously in the office, rushed to steady the doctor when he stumbled into the room.

“How is the Prince?” Hakyeon asked immediately, unable to hold back his curiosity. “Is he still feeling poorly?”

“I’m afraid so,” answered the doctor, his words accompanied with a deep sigh. “He’s a stubborn one, our Crown Prince; even as he complained of the symptoms of fatigue, he would not allow himself to rest.”

Hakyeon’s fingers froze around his mentor’s arms, his eyes widening in horror. He had known that the Prince had an important proposal he needed to work on, one that was especially close to his heart, but to work himself to exhaustion…

“I know it’s not your place to do so,” the court physician said, “but His Royal Highness seems to be very fond of you, so I don’t think it would be unthinkable if you were to go to him tonight.”

“You would allow me to see him unsupervised?”

“Not as a member of the medical team, Hakyeon.” He did not need to finish his sentence: Hakyeon understood the kind glint in his mentor’s eyes perfectly.

* * *

The hour was very late when Hakyeon was finally able to pull away from his duties, but — just as he had known there would be — oil lamps were still lit inside the Crown Prince’s study, their yellow, flickering lights filtering through the thin paper coverings on the walls of his royal highness’s sanctuary. It softly illuminated the corridors outside, bright enough so that Hakyeon could make his way safely towards his destination, but its presence — the knowledge of its presence — did nothing but make him purse his lips in annoyance.

“Actually stupid,” he muttered in a resigned tone, even as he squared his shoulders and hardened his expression, ready to scold his friend.

Prince Taekwoon’s personal bodyguards — Wonshik and Hongbin — were diligently standing guard by the door, their postures stiff as they looked around for potential enemies, and seated in a nearby chair was a maid, working on a piece of sewing by candlelight, present in case the Prince needed anything. All of them looked around when they heard Hakyeon shuffle into the corridor, but the maid quickly returned to her work when she saw who it was.

Wonshik and Hongbin, however, watched as Hakyeon approached, each of them wearing a look of immense relief at the sight; Wonshik even went as far as kneeling down on the floor and clutching the hem of Hakyeon’s robes when the herbalist-in-training was close enough.

“Our prayers have been answered,” he all but sobbed, leaning all the way down to the floor and moving as though to kiss the hem of Hakyeon’s clothes.

Hongbin scoffed at his partner’s theatrics, hitting Wonshik’s butt with the end of the sheath of his sword, but the glint in his eyes as he looked at Hakyeon hinted the same sort of sentiment.

“Is it very bad?” Hakyeon asked, his worry over the Prince’s health finally overcoming his want to scold the other man.

Hongbin frowned, as if trying to find the right words to answer with.

“Just,” he answered eventually, “don’t scream or drop what you’re carrying when you lay eyes on him.” He looked pointedly down at the tea set Hakyeon had brought with him.

Hakyeon, too, glanced down at the tray. “That bad, huh?” he murmured, his eyebrows also knitting.

Hongbin hummed in agreement. “I should mention,” he added, “don’t be too hard on him. He’s been working very hard, puzzling through the problems, and his nerves are a little raw and fragile at the moment.”

“When Doctor Sung suggested that he take a break and step outside for a breather, I swear he looked like he would cry,” Wonshik chimed in.

At that, Hakyeon turned his face to the ceiling and squeezed his eyes shut, exhaling slowly through his mouth, reining in the rush of intense, conflicting emotion that rushed through him.

“Safe now?” Hongbin questioned, looking the tiniest bit amused when Hakyeon opened his eyes again.

“As safe as he’ll ever be, I guess, under these circumstances.”

Hongbin nodded, accepting the answer, and then he and Wonshik opened the doors for Hakyeon to enter.

* * *

After Doctor Sung had left, Taekwoon had ordered Wonshik and Hongbin to turn away any visitors, so it was with great surprise — as well as a tiny bit of annoyance — that he looked up from what he had been working on when he heard a light but insistent cough from somewhere in front of his desk. He was more than ready to reprimand the intruder, whose distraction had caused him to momentarily drop his brush and create a large blot of ink on the paper.

When he saw who it was though, all he could breath out was a soft dumbfounded, “Oh.”

“I didn’t know my name had been changed during the ten minutes it took me to walk here,” Hakyeon quipped, kneeling down so he could put the tea tray on the floor.

“Hakyeon,” Taekwoon greeted properly, pushing himself out from behind his desk to join Hakyeon.

“That’s better,” the herbalist-in-training said with a soft laugh. “I was beginning to think that all of the strain from working on your proposal had dulled your brain to everything else around you. I’m glad you still remember my name.”

He had meant those words as a joke, not dissimilar to ones they had made before, but Taekwoon reached out to grasp Hakyeon’s hand tightly and leaned forward, pushing himself into Hakyeon’s personal space.

“I could never forget your name, Hakyeon,” he said softly, his voice and expression earnest, “no matter how busy or how far apart we are.”

Perhaps it was the situation in general — with Taekwoon having called for the doctor earlier that day and how faraway from reality he had been before Hakyeon’s arrival — or perhaps it was the atmosphere around them now, but Taekwoon felt the urgent need to clarify that.

Hakyeon blinked, not having expected such a reaction, but he didn’t look away, gazing deeply into the other’s eyes, reading the Prince’s thought.

There was more that Taekwoon wanted to say, and he opened his mouth to say, “I—” before breaking off, not knowing how to put words to his thoughts.

Hakyeon shook his head then, raising his free hand to cover Taekwoon’s mouth. “I know, Taekwoon-ah,” he whispered affectionately. “I know.”

Not for the first time, Taekwoon marvelled at the fact that he’d been gifted such a wonderful friend.

“But,” the other man continued, his voice taking on a stern tone, “as your friend and future health adviser, I absolutely must insist on you taking a break, Taekwoon. You won’t be doing yourself any favours if you collapsed or made yourself ill before this whole affair is done and dusted.”

For a moment, Taekwoon looked as though he would rebel against his friend’s advice, his brows furrowing deeply, but it smoothed over quickly. Instead, the Prince flopped forward, dropping his head heavily onto Hakyeon’s shoulder and putting most of his weight on his friend, causing the herbalist to almost topple backwards onto the floor.

“I’ll only take a break if you’re the one making sure I’m resting,” muttered the Prince, and if the words were muffled and made unclear by the fabric of Hakyeon’s robes, its meaning was definitely clarified by the arms that snaked around Hakyeon’s waist.

The herbalist huffed out a laugh. “Incorrigible,” he said as he poked a finger into Taekwoon’s side, just to watch him squirm.

He let Taekwoon lay on him for a moment longer, before he tried to coax the Prince back up again, struggling when Taekwoon, sensing Hakyeon’s intention, made it his mission to be as uncooperative as possible.

“But I made you tea,” Hakyeon cried eventually, “and now it’s going to go cold, and then it’ll be disgusting and have the opposite effect I wanted it to have.”

That caught the Prince’s attention, and he sat back, peering over Hakyeon’s shoulder at the tray that had been brought in.

“I was wondering what that smell was,” he said, shuffling forward. “What tea did you make?”

“Gardenia,” Hakyeon explained, moving to pour a small cup of tea. “One of its uses is in treating insomnia, which is one of the symptoms you told Doctor Sung, so I boiled its dried seeds in water. It should have cooled enough for you to drink now, though.”

Taekwoon lifted the offered cup to his nose and breathed in the scent deeply. “Bitter,” he whined, pouting.

“I know,” Hakyeon sighed, gently laying a hand on the Prince’s upper arm “but as they say, no pain, no gain.”

The Prince made another mutinous sound, but he made no more complaints; he simply scrunched up his eyes and downed the drink in one breath. He practically slammed the cup back down afterwards, softening its landing at the last minute so it clicked against the wooden floorboard, and the look on his face was one of tortured disgust. Hakyeon patted his arm sympathetically, nudging a cup of water into Taekwoon’s hand so he could wash down the taste from the tea.

When the cup had been drained, Hakyeon stood up, pulling the Prince to his feet too. “Come,” he said softly as a guided them towards the large bed behind the desk, “get some rest.”

Taekwoon didn’t argue, his pent-up weariness settling into his bones, and simply rolled into his bed.

“Stay with me, Hakyeon-ah,” he mumbled, pulling the other man into bed beside him.

The herbalist hummed his agreement as he settled into a comfortable position beside the Prince.

“Stay until morning?”

“Sure,” Hakyeon agreed, leaning over to press a gentle kiss to Taekwoon’s cheek. “Sleep now, my wonderful Prince.”

Taekwoon snuffled in response and buried his nose into Hakyeon’s chest. “Thank you.” Then he pressed a kiss over Hakyeon’s heart, adding a slurred, “Love you, Hakyeon-ah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Oops, how did it become April?
> 
> This time, the prompt was "gardenia", which stumped me at first, because gardenias?? What can I do with gardenias?? In the process of researching, I found out that its seeds are used in traditional herbal medicine, and somehow an entire AU where Taekwoon was the Crown Prince and Hakyeon was his herbalist/doctor was born... There are definitely more where this came from, I just don't know when you're going to get them OTL


End file.
